Another Chance
by Aikido Kiryuu
Summary: Here in Japan, everything seemed so much better already. She didn't have to be at Cross Academy for more then five minutes to know that this place was going to be better than whatever life she'd had back at home. Request for harvestmoonrox ZeroxOCxIchijo.
1. Chapter 1

Akiko Williams looked around her. Here in Japan, everything seemed so much better already. She didn't have to be at Cross Academy for more then five minutes to know that this place was going to be better than whatever life she'd had back at home. She'd been looking towards High School ever since she was younger, for all of the dances, and boys, and dating. That attitude had since faded, of course, because now she knew better. Her first year of High School back at home had been a nightmare. The only thing she missed about it was her best friend, Izzy. Izzy was really the only one who'd ever understood Akiko's passion for anime, and her love of Japan. In fact, Izzy had been the only one who understood why Akiko had changed her name to Akiko. Her name had been Sasha, once upon a time. But who wanted a boring, simple name like that? Surprisingly, her mother had accepted that she wanted to change her name. Akiko could only suspect it was because her father had named her, and God only knew where her father was now. She couldn't believe that she was here, in Japan, the birthplace of anime. Izzy would be jealous, she imagined. She remembered when the two had first met in elementary school, each clutching a sketch book and drawing pathetic-looking pictures during recess. Together, they had joined a Japanese class at the community center every Friday night at seven, and they'd spent so many sleepovers studying until their eyelids drooped and they fell asleep. The mornings they'd go to school with bags under their eyes, but didn't regret it. Together, they had been the weirdos of the school.

Izzy had been the lucky one of the pair, though. Because Izzy was the type of girl who fit in with anyone and everyone. Akiko wasn't that lucky. After she'd first changed her name, back in the fifth grade, she'd been taunted, and laughed at, and called a freak. And that was just the minor things. Growing up, she'd also received a few beatings, where she'd come home bruised and battered. Only last year did her mother finally decide that something needed to be done. So here she was, after months of filling out paperwork and getting a passport and preparing for a school in Japan. Here was the opportunity she'd always wanted. She smiled to herself, and then walked over to what she assumed was the main office. Her suitcase felt like a block of led in her hands, but it didn't matter, she was so pumped up on adrenaline. Here, her name was normal. Liking anime was normal too, or at least she hoped so. She found the door that proclaimed to be the Chairman's Office, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Said a cheerful voice.

Akiko placed her suitcase outside of the door, and then walked in, brown eyes absorbing everything. She didn't want to forget anything she saw here, right down to the very office that she was standing in. "Uh...hi. I'm Akiko Williams...and I just enrolled here..." she said, growing a tiny bit shy. Talking in Japanese to a real Japanese person was...unreal to her. What if she said something that she didn't mean? No, she told herself, calm down. You've been taking Japanese for seven years now, you must know what you're saying.

The Chairman nodded, "Of course! I've even hired someone to give you an introductory tour of the place. But first...a copy of the student handbook, make sure to read it...your schedule, and of course, there was the matter of your private math tutor. We're currently still trying to find you a student math tutor, since the certified one we had on campus walked out just the other day..."

Akiko found herself embarrassed, despite herself. She hadn't realized that it would be such a problem. And the last thing she wanted was a student math tutor. After all, what would prevent that person from running around the school laughing about how horrible she was in math? "O-ok," she said, taking the materials from him.

"And lastly, your uniform...and room assignment" he placed a small stack of dark blue and white clothing on the desk in front of her, which she scooped up into her arms. "Thanks," she said, trying to show him that she was confident. She peeked at the small piece of paper on top of the clothing. Now the only mission was to find her room, unpack, and hope for a normal roommate. Or at least one that wouldn't stare at her and wonder what a black girl with a Japanese name was doing in the middle of Japan.

Suddenly, a girl with short brown hair and big brown eyes burst into the room, looking agitated. "Zero's skipping his guardian duties _again_!" She moaned, stamping her foot. "I can't find him anywhere!"

The Chairman slapped his forehead, but then smiled and ignored her dilemma. "Yuuki! Perfect timing! I'd like you to escort Miss Williams here to her room. If you wouldn't mind, that is."

Yuuki looked deflated, disappointed her complaints had gotten her nowhere. "Sure, of course. No problem!" She extended her hand to Akiko. "Hi, I'm Yuuki."

Akiko looked at her hand for a minute, and then studied her face. She seemed innocent enough. Reluctantly, she shook Yuuki's hand. Yuuki reminded her of Izzy a little bit, with her always-smiling kind of personality. For now, Akiko decided, she would treat this girl fairly, but she wasn't about to open up her life story to her or anything. "I'm Akiko," she stated.

Yuuki blinked, and looked at Akiko again. She was probably wondering, just like everyone else would, why a black girl had a Japanese name. Great. Now, in Japan, it wasn't her name people would be curious about, but her origins. Yuuki had clearly been expecting some western name. Nonetheless, she shook her head, and smiled. "Here, let me take that for you. I saw you had a big suitcase out there."

"No, that's fine, I can handle it," Akiko said, admirable determination in her voice. She assumed that Yuuki was honestly just trying to be nice, but she wanted to show that she was capable of handling herself. Even though her load had grown heavier, she managed to carry it all.

"Are you sure that you-"

"Please, Yuuki, I've got it," Akiko said, suitcase in both hands, uniform tucked under her armpit.

As they were walking, suddenly Yuuki stopped, an angry expression across her face. Akiko was about to ask her what was wrong, but Yuuki wasn't one to avoid running into things head-on.

"Zero! There you are!" Yuuki shouted to a boy with silver hair who was walking maybe fifty feet away from them. He ignored her, and continued walking. Yuuki turned to Akiko apologetically, "Wait here, I'll be right back." Yuuki then ran after the boy named Zero, and Akiko simply watched from a distance. She dropped her suitcase, and sat down on top of it when she realized that their argument might take a while. She finally decided that she could find her dorm room herself. After all, how hard could it be? She picked up all of her things, and began to walk towards the dorm buildings. The one with all of the girls hanging around on the front steps was probably the girls' dorm, as the other one had boys milling about the front. Bravely, she trooped up the front steps, trying to hold her head high even as she got funny looks. As she walked by, conversations broke off. Here she was, in front of the jury, being judged before her case even began.

She observed the doors inside of the building, watching carefully how they were numbered. Her room was 2-70. All of the numbers on the first floor seemed to be numbered with 1's before the room number. She didn't have to wonder where her room would be. The second floor, obviously.

Room 2-70. She stared at the door, and she could hear that someone was playing a radio inside- some annoying American pop song by some singer she'd never cared for. She opened the door, and the first thing Akiko noted was the girl sitting on one of the beds. She had bright red hair pulled back into braids, and big blue eyes. She was wearing her pajamas already, and painting her toenails. When she noticed Akiko walked in, she smiled, a big smile the revealed a set of shiny braces. "Hi! You must be my new roommate. Akiko, right? That's so cool, I wish I had a Japanese name! My name is just Eve. I'm a Gemini, I have three dogs back at home, I play the piano, the violin, the guitar, and the clarinet, my parents are..."

It took Akiko a minute to process that this girl was babbling in English to her. She promptly began to drown out Eve's chatter, and unpack her things. Akiko enjoyed talkative people, but Eve was just too much of a good thing. The good thing, that she'd noticed right away, was that Eve hadn't stared at her for being black with a Japanese name. Eve was just trying to be friendly, but it was beginning to get annoying.

The second thing Akiko noticed about the room, Eve's side in particular, was that it was covered in Polaroid pictures of boys. Boys in uniforms similar to theirs, except with inverse colors. That must be the Night Class she'd heard about, Akiko thought. They really were all exceptionally beautiful. She found herself staring at the pictures, despite her better judgment. Eve picked up on this, and smiled.

"That's the Night Class..." she said dreamily, "Aren't they beautiful?" She became enchanted by her pictures, and was quiet. But ADD seemed to consume her instantly, and she looked back to Akiko. "So anyways, what about you?"

"What about me?" Akiko asked, unsure. She was tucking her clothes into the empty drawers in the dresser. Overall, she decided that Eve wasn't so bad. A bit annoying, but nothing she couldn't handle. Because Eve seemed nice, and that was what mattered. Akiko wasn't positive that she would ever be able to call this girl a friend, but she was tolerable.

"I dunno," Eve said, thinking, "Anything, really. I'm sorry, I'm just a little bit excited to have a roommate who can speak English."

"Well, my name is Akiko Williams. That's all you need to know about me," Akiko said flatly. She wasn't trying to be mean to the girl, but she didn't really want to talk about her past, either. It was better if no one knew about what she'd been through.

"Oh," Eve said, whatever hyperness she'd just had pushed out of her like a balloon. "Okay. Sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. I'm just not comfortable talking about those sort of things," Akiko felt she at least owed Eve an explanation. She finally had gotten to the bottom of her bag, where her diary had been hiding. She took it, made sure its lock was in place, and then put it in the drawer in her bedside table, along with a pen. Eve had grown quiet, painting her toenails with an empty look in her eyes. Akiko unlocked her diary with the key she wore on a necklace, and began to write.

_Well, here I am, in Japan! I can't believe it..._


	2. Chapter 2

"Eve, where are you taking me?" Akiko asked, sighing. Eve was pulling her along excitedly, towards a group of other girls from the Day Class. "I'd really rather go and sleep...jet lag and whatnot..."

"Oh come on, Akiko! I promise it will be worth it!" Eve cried, moving faster. She dug her way through the crowd, making sure she and Akiko were in the very front. Eve was looking around expectantly, expecting something exciting to happen soon. All of the other girls were chattering excitedly. Akiko stared at the big gate-like structure in front of her, trying to figure out what it belonged to. She couldn't really see behind it, no matter how much she craned her head. "Eve...what are we waiting for?" Akiko finally decided that she wasn't going to make progress unless she asked her overzealous roommate.

"You'll see, you'll see!" She said, "Be patient!" You could say that Eve was being a hypocrite, as she was far from patient. She was pacing back and forth, turning around in circles, and looking longingly at the gate. The girl always needed to be moving, it seemed.

"Eve, that's it, I'm leaving," Akiko said, turning away.

"Oh no you aren't!" Eve said, grabbing Akiko's wrist. "Oh, here they come!" She squealed, letting go of Akiko's wrist and jumping up and down. Akiko was about to leave, but she was terribly curious about what Eve was so excited about. Now a bunch of girls had filled in in front of her, so Eve stood on her tiptoes. Eve came through for her again, though, coming out of nowhere and taking her to the front.

"Everybody back up!" Yuuki cried, desperately trying to keep order. She was pretty much being ignored for the most part. Akiko had a small pang of pity for the girl, but knew that there really wasn't anything she could do about it. Here, everyone's attention was focused on whatever was behind the mysterious gate. Not on the freaky new girl. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself.

Slowly, the gates began to open up, and Akiko saw what everyone was so hyped up about. All of the girls snapped back to either side of the walkway, crying out to their Night Class boy of choice. Akiko was not happy, though. She turned to Eve. "You brought me here to look at boys?" She asked, gritting her teeth.

Eve looked shocked. "You mean you aren't interested by them? I think their absolutely gorgeous. My favorite one is Ichijo-sama over there," she said, pointing.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Akiko sighed, although it was secretly the one she had been admiring herself. Suddenly, Eve whipped out a Polaroid camera, and began snapping pictures and asking Akiko to hold the ones that were developing.

"I'm going back to the room, okay? Yeah, they're gorgeous, I'm not going to lie to you, but it really isn't my style to obsess over someone who I don't have a ghost of a chance with."

"That's fine, Akiko," Eve said, not looking at her. She shoved her camera and pictures into Akiko's hands. "Take these with you, will you?"

Akiko was about to tell Eve to take her own things, but girls had already moved in front of her all over again, hiding Eve from her view. So there she was, stuck with a camera and a stack of a fangirl's pictures. "This doesn't look awkward," she mumbled to herself. The pictures she managed to hide under her clothes, but the camera she couldn't really do anything about. At least with a camera, no one would think that she was a fangirl, unless they saw the photos. As she was walking back to her dorm, a voice addressed her from behind.

"You know the rules. No cameras on school property," the voice said. It sounded bored, though, not angry. As if it had done this a million times.

"It isn't even my camera," Akiko protested.

"Unfortunately, I don't care who's camera it is. The rule is just 'no cameras on school property.'"

Akiko turned around to see the boy Yuuki had been talking to earlier, Zero. She wouldn't miss his silver hair anywhere. She handed over the camera without any more argument. It would serve Eve right to think she could take advantage of Akiko so easily.

"So, what about the pictures?" Zero asked, holding his hand out.

"I don't know. Eve kept them. She just dumped the camera with me and told me to take it back to the room."

"Oh, so it's Eve's camera," he muttered. "This is the third one this year...all right fine, I'll believe you. Mostly because you're new here, and I don't have any reason to hate you." Silence. "Yet," he walked away, camera in hand.

Akiko didn't really care all that much for the night class...but this boy...Zero...yes. He was interesting. The dark, scary type of attitude made Akiko curious about him, and she decided that she might be able to find a friend in him, eventually.

"Akiko!" Eve cried, panting as she ran up to her. "Where's my camera?" She asked, noticing Akiko was empty-handed.

"Uh...it got...confis...cated?" Akiko said nervously, not wanting to know what this hyper little ball of energy turned into when she was upset.

But Eve didn't look upset at all. She just frowned and looked down. "Damn. That's the third one this year," she said with a sigh. "Sorry, I should have told you earlier that cameras weren't allowed. But anyways, that's why I have Polaroids. I got like seven of them at a flea market back in the states for three dollars a piece. So, no worries, I have more!" She was smiling. "I'm just upset that the pictures are gone..."

Akiko almost considered not giving her the pictures. If Eve hung any more up on her wall, the pictures would slowly start to invade Akiko's side of the room. And besides, it was kind of a creepy thing to collect. Except, Akiko wasn't a mean person at heart, and found she couldn't do it.

"Here," she said dryly, "I saved the pictures." She removed the stack from the inside of the sweatshirt she was wearing, and handed them over.

Eve perked up even more. "Oh, thank you! !" Eve practically screamed. Suddenly, she hugged Akiko. "Thank you! These pictures are absolutely wonderful!"

"Um...it's nothing. Really. Now please, get off of me," Akiko said, awkwardly. "It's embarrassing."

"Oh, sorry!" Eve said, "Come on, I want to go and hang these up!" She exclaimed, skipping towards the dorm buildings.

"Yeah...you do that. Just...no more hugging, okay? And, I'm going to sleep."

But Eve was ignoring her, already thirty feet or more away from her, pictures clutched to her chest and head in the clouds.


	3. Chapter 3

Japanese schools were crazy. It had only been Akiko's first day of classes- and every single one of them was painful. They weren't exactly difficult, they just dragged by slowly. If you've ever been in school, and I assume that you have, you'll know what she felt like. As each hour ticked by, she grew more and more anxious to do a little bit of exploring around the school grounds to get a feel for where everything was. Except, just when she thought she was finally free, Yuuki came looking for her.

"What is it?" Akiko asked, trying to at least be a little friendly towards her. It was sort of hard though, after she'd abandoned her so easily.

"The Chairman's looking for you," she said, "Do you remember where his office is?"

Of course I remember where his office is, Akiko thought, but didn't say anything. "Yeah. Thanks."

The last thing she wanted to do was go to visit the Chairman. Really, she just wanted to finish her homework and then get some more sleep. The jet lag was still taking its toll on her, after all. Something told her that some extra sleep wouldn't be a possibility any longer. Akiko began walking slowly to the Chairman's office, trying to make herself invisible. Everyone was looking at her, they still hadn't gotten over her yet, although Eve promised they would.

_What are they staring at? Is it my butt? I mean there _is _a whole lot to stare at..._

Akiko swallowed a little lump that had formed in her throat, and tried to be braver than that. She was no better or worse than anybody else here, right? And...they probably weren't looking at her butt. That would be weird. Yet she just couldn't shake the feeling that they were all talking and laughing about how huge it was...

She hurried up her pace, wanting to do anything to get out from under their judgmental eyes.

When she finally arrived safely inside the office, she shut her eyes for a moment, relieved. In hindsight, she knew somewhere inside of her that they probably hadn't been staring at her butt like she feared. The feeling still didn't leave her though. "You...wanted to see me?" She asked the Chairman cautiously. As things stood, she had no impression of the Chairman just yet.

"Yes, I did, it's about your math tutor."

Akiko couldn't help but look down at the mention of her tutor. "And...?"

"I was getting there. We couldn't find anyone in the Day Class who was either willing to tutor you, or who wasn't already tutoring someone. So...I had to resort to hiring one of the Night Class. It probably wasn't one of my better judgments, but for now, he's all we have. You seem like a girl who has her head on in the right place, so I believe that I can trust you to focus on the actual subject- instead of the tutor. Right?"

Akiko nodded quickly. Oh, great. The thought of one of the incredibly charming and handsome Night Class students sent shivers down her spine. How was she supposed to concentrate on math with one of _those_ teaching her? She wasn't exactly interested in them, but their good looks was pretty hard to ignore. And not only that...she couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't _right_ with them. "Yes...that will be fine...," she responded, but in her head, she wasn't so sure.

"He's getting class credit for this, so he's allowed to skip one of his classes to help tutor you. Of course, I'm still a bit wary of this whole situation, so you'll be tutored in the room next to my office, from eight to eight thirty, every Monday and Thursday. Starting tomorrow."

"Thanks," Akiko said, feeling some obligation to thank the person who had arranged for her to have a tutor that she badly needed. Maybe, just maybe, she could pull through with a good report card to send back to her mother.

* * *

Sorry it was so short! I didn't have a whole lot of time to write today, but I wanted to get something up so you wouldn't think I forgot!


	4. Chapter 4

"My first tutoring session..." Akiko said sadly, looking at the door. She was a little bit hesitant to go in. After all, one of the infamous Night Class students was supposed to be tutoring her. She held her math book to her chest, and opened up the door. At first, she couldn't believe who was sitting there. She didn't want to believe it either, because she knew that if Eve ever found out about this little tutoring session, she'd have one angry roommate on her hands. Ichijo.

"Hi," he said, with a warm smile, "Are you Akiko?"

Akiko nodded, and sat down at the little wooden table across from him. "And you're Ichijo, right?"

He nodded, "So you've heard of me."

"Just a little," Akiko said, finding herself unable to look him in the eyes. She pretended to ruffle through her math book, as if in search of a certain page. "My roommate sort of has a thing for you, is all."

"I don't suppose your roommate would be Eve," Ichijo said, casually pulling out some sheets of white lined paper from his bag on the floor.

"That's her," Akiko replied, taking one of the pencils from the cup that was on the table. She was feeling a little awkward talking to someone so...perfect. After all...she was just here for math tutoring, not a blind date.

Ichijo nodded suddenly, as if he'd been reading her mind. "So, anyways, what is it that you don't understand?"

Akiko stared down at her open math textbook. "Well...I wouldn't say _all_ of it...but...most of it." She pointed to a certain section. Her eyes were going a little crazy trying to read the explanations in Japanese, but they focused when she forced them to.

Ichijo smiled and nodded, and then scribbled down a sample problem on the white lined paper. "Now, to solve this..."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Thank you, Ichijo," Akiko said, with a little bow.

"Not a problem, Akiko. I'm sure you'll understand math in no time."

What he didn't know, Akiko thought, was that even though they'd gone a little bit over their session time, she understood what they'd been working on- and to her surprise, it felt pretty good. However, nothing in life is easy. And she was still getting one out of four problems wrong. So it wasn't a complete success, but if she were to be tested on the material, at least she wouldn't fail. Another problem was that it had taken her nearly 40 minutes just to get a handle on one little section of material. He'd been nice enough to continue, even past eight thirty, since she still didn't get it, but then the Chairman told them that Ichijo needed to go back to his own classes.

Ichijo seemed to be staring at her for a minute- maybe not at her, but more like staring into space while looking in her direction. Then he seemed to come back to Earth. "Bye, Akiko," he said in a friendly way, before leaving.

She gave a timid little wave in return, too worried to say anything. Had he been staring at her? If so, what had he been staring at? Akiko looked down at herself, but then looked away because she just couldn't help feeling insecure. She had all of the curves that apparently men found attractive, but she'd never quite believed that. To her, they were just awkward and too big. She didn't know why she even cared what he thought about her. But, then she realized that he couldn't have been too bad of a person. After all, he seemed indifferent to the fact that she wasn't Japanese. He'd been friendly.

She gave out a little sigh of relief.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_Things are looking up for me here. I have a tutor now, and after one session, I actually kind of understand something. But, that's the first time I can even say "kind of" before understand in a long time. Sure, I've always understood bits and pieces of math, and certain lessons just came easy to me. For the most part...my grades weren't the best. I honestly believe that I can survive here, though. Overall, the people here don't seem to like me, but there are a few who have potential. They'll never replace Izzy, of course, but I'm sure she'll understand. I've been thinking of sending Izzy a postcard. Except, I'm not even sure if she'll remember me anymore. Nah, I'm only kidding. Izzy's my best friend, no matter where we are in the world. _

_ I haven't been teased or beaten up by anyone. Not yet, anyways. I'm fully expecting something bad to happen. On the other hand, I haven't made any real friends yet, either. I've made a few acquaintances, but they aren't anyone who I can actually trust. I was supposed to write to Mom, too, but I haven't-_

"Akikoooo...what are you doing? Its laaaaaate, turn the light oooff," Eve whined, from her bed. "Do you really want any of the guardians to catch us with the lights on?" She sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

Akiko slammed her diary shut, and slipped the lock on. Normally, she wouldn't even keep a lock on it, but since she wasn't the only one using her room anymore, she couldn't be too careful. "Right. Sorry, Eve." Akiko threw the book into her bedside table and shut the light off. Then she pulled the covers over herself, turned to face the wall away from Eve, and shut her eyes. But she wasn't sleeping. She waited a few minutes until she was absolutely certain that Eve was asleep again, and then flicked on the light, quietly retrieved her diary, unlocked it, and continued writing.


	5. Chapter 5

Akiko stared at the chalkboard in a daze. Her jet lag was getting better, but she was still tired most of the time, or so it seemed. She was writing down the notes, in English, but wasn't really paying attention. Of course, there was no doubt that she should have been, considering that it was her math class. Did it really matter, though? She _did_ have a private tutor, after all...couldn't he just reteach it to her later?

"Akiko?" The teacher suddenly called, and she snapped to attention, and dropped her pencil, embarrassed. "What is the value of x if y equals 1.7?"

"Uh...um...it would be..." she desperately tried to call upon the numbers in her head, and she took a quick glance around at her bored classmates, almost searching for one kind soul to give her an answer. She didn't have a first clue on how to figure it out. Defeated, she said, "I don't know."

The teacher gave her a warning look, disappointed in her. But then he turned away, towards the other students. "Does anyone else know? Anyone at all?"

Akiko didn't hear the answer, she was too disappointed in herself. As she looked at the problem again, she realized that it had been on what Ichijo had gone over with her last night.

_Will I never understand math?_

She sighed, and tapped her pencil against her desk until the class- the last class of the day- was finally dismissed. She gathered up her belongings, and made a beeline back towards her dorm room, although she wasn't completely looking forward to seeing Eve. She was watching her feet, trying not to look up, so she wouldn't see the people who were probably staring at her. In her lack of concentration, she bumped into someone. Her head snapped up, and she immediately mumbled a nearly incomprehensible "sorry."

The person she had bumped into was none other than Zero Kiryuu- prince of ditching class. "Yeah. Me too," was the only response Akiko got from him before he walked away, hands stuffed in his pockets and silvery hair shining like new quarters in the sunlight. He was interesting, that was for sure. Perhaps even more cut off and distrustful of everyone as Akiko herself was. Akiko made one of those spur of the moment decisions not to go back to her dorm, and go sit in the woods for some alone time for a little while. She'd most likely be out there past curfew, no doubt, but she needed some time away from her nosy roommate. She made sure that she was quite a way away from all of the school buildings, and then sat down on the ground, against a tree. Akiko needed time to think to herself. After all, quite a lot had happened to her in her first few days in Japan.

It was nice, being in the fresh air. A crisp breeze was blowing, that slightly chilled her legs.

"You're more trouble then you're worth, you know that?" A voice said, rousing Akiko from he sleep that she'd apparently fallen into without even realizing it. Akiko rubbed her eyes and looked up at the sky, noticing that the moon was up now, along with all of the little stars around it. Next she looked at the person who'd woken her up- Zero, the guardian. Again.

"It isn't like I was after the Night Class or anything," she said dryly, standing up and brushing herself off. "I just needed time away from Eve."

Zero nodded, slowly. "If you keep breaking the rules, I'm going to report you eventually. The only reason I haven't yet is because I'm hopelessly lazy."

Akiko couldn't help but smile, "Thanks, Kiryuu," she said, turning around and beginning to walk away, "See you later."

"Oh, and Akiko?"

"What?" She turned around, to face him.

"Don't come out here by yourself again at night. It's dangerous," for just a brief moment- so tiny it happened in only a fraction of a second, a look of worry passed through his eyes. Akiko stared at him, trying to understand why it had occurred. Even though the pair wasn't close friends- it appeared as though they had a mutual understanding going on between them. Neither one of them understood it, but it was there.

"Where have you been?" Eve said, in that whiny voice that she always used when she wanted information.

"Nowhere," Akiko said in response, as she grabbed her pajamas and made her way to the girls' dorm bathroom to change. Eve didn't need to know everything that went on in her life, after all. When she returned to the room, Eve was waiting for her, sitting on her bed, knees pulled up into her chest.

"You're cellphone has been ringing," Eve said softly. "I had to turn it on vibrate for you, because we aren't supposed to have them on campus...and I didn't want anyone else to hear it..."

Akiko was surprised. At Eve, because she had been so considerate, and just at the fact that her phone had been ringing. She picked it up from inside of her bedside table drawer, and discovered that she had six text messages. She herself had never been a fan of texting, but Izzy had always been. She opened the first one, which had been received nearly an hour ago.

_8:02- Izzy- Hey, Akiko? I kno ur up in Japan nd all, but I'm coming home from the cafe- u kno- the 1 we always go to? Nd theres this dude following me. What should I do?_

_ 8:10-Izzy- Yo. I kno ur probs busy w/ homework and crap, but plz. I'm afraid 2 go home. He'll find out where I live. __Where r u?_

_ 8:15- Izzy- He's been getting closer 2 me. I've been wandering around town, pretending to do stuff._

_ 8:21-Izzy- Akiko, plz! He's trying 2 talk 2 me now! Should I call the police or what?_

_ 8:27-Izzy- I just called the police, and they told me 2 go into the nearest store- but they all closed!_

_ 8:29-Izzy- H_

And that was the end of it. Akiko didn't know what Izzy had expected her to do, as she was in Japan...but immediately Akiko knew that there was a problem back home. Why had Izzy's last message only been the letter "h?" Was it just an accident, or a message, or what? Akiko immediately texted Izzy back.

_9:08-Aiko- Izzy, please tell me you're okay._

However, Akiko never got a response.


End file.
